


Out of the Storm

by sharnii



Series: Out of the Storm series [1]
Category: Shoujo Kakumei Utena | Revolutionary Girl Utena
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, F/F, Fairy Tale Elements, Fix-It, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hot, In Character, Intense, Magic Revealed, Meet-Cute, Memory Loss, Other, Post-Canon, Slow Build, Slow Romance, Sweet, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:27:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29914815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sharnii/pseuds/sharnii
Summary: Utena is trying hard to beat a storm home when the impossible happens. Then keeps happening.Post-anime exploration and resolution, Utena/Anthy eventually with a generous side of ChuChu. Sweet, cute, dreamy, steamy, sad, mystical, mysterious, and since it's U/A, very romantic.
Relationships: Chu-Chu & Himemiya Anthy, Chu-Chu & Tenjou Utena, Himemiya Anthy & Tenjou Utena, Himemiya Anthy/Tenjou Utena, Utena and Anthy and Chu-Chu
Series: Out of the Storm series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2199777
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6
Collections: Focus on Female Characters, Shoujo Kakumei Utena, The Chamber, Yuri Challenge





	1. I - Utena

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Untangled](https://archiveofourown.org/works/274846) by [orphan_account](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account). 



> Author’s Note: In this fanfiction I make several song suggestions that echo the mood. I list each song (with handy links) at the beginning of that chapter, then make a notation in the text where I suggest playing from, if such things resonate with your personal immersion experience. Some people are very into such things, and some definitely aren’t!

** Out of the Storm **   
_by sharnii_  
  
**I - Utena**  
  
_[Song suggestion: ‘Now we are free’ - Andres Newman featuring Abigail (Deep Edit)  
Convenient spotify link: _[_https://open.spotify.com/track/25347ImMrbG7H65kiPQfEW?si=mKjx6BF3RK-CypD2ueYfEw_](https://open.spotify.com/track/25347ImMrbG7H65kiPQfEW?si=mKjx6BF3RK-CypD2ueYfEw) _  
Convenient youtube link:_[ _https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCHNwhvzEs8_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCHNwhvzEs8) _]_

* * *

A storm is gathering as Utena walks home. Dark clouds are thick and roiling, driven by wind across the sky. Thunder rumbles. Silence stretches. Then lightning flashes on the horizon. There is no rain, yet – the storm is still afar. Utena hurries. She walks fast, so fast it’s almost running but not quite.  
  
She doesn’t like running. It hurts all over when she does in a way that can’t be explained by medical science. She has the notion that she used to love running … she’s in her mid-twenties but still ‘seems’ like the athletic type. Then again, maybe that’s just because she’s an inveterate tomboy.  
  
Utena hurries homeward.  
  
The first drop of rain plops on her nose. With a startled noise, she run-walks faster. Suddenly she notices something strange. There’s a creature? running beside her, chirruping excitedly. She’s too surprised to do anything but stare, as she somehow continues to hurry. What is it?! So weird! It’s like a mouse … no a monkey … no a marmoset … no, all of those … no, something else entirely. What is it?  
  
The tiny creature has big round ears which are cocked at her, its’ (so-cute) face turned toward her inquisitively. It chitters again. For all the world, it seems like it’s talking to her. But Utena doesn’t speak ‘Creature-ese’, so she just gapes. The creature jumps up and down a couple times, in apparent consternation, or is it outrage? They have stopped now and are staring at each other. The creature’s chirrups are growing louder, and its’ (cute!) cheeks are turning an alarming shade of red. Fat raindrops plop all around as it shakes a tiny fist at Utena.  
  
“Hey there, little one,” she tries cautiously, waving at it tentatively. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re saying. Do you er, need something?” She lets out a startled yell as the creature hops onto her Converse, then another yell as it climbs up her jean leg, and then her red hoodie in quick succession. It sits perched on her shoulder, windmilling its’ tiny arms and chirruping even more urgently, if that’s possible.  
  
The rain is now coming down in earnest. They’re starting to get wet, but Utena doesn’t notice. She’s too absorbed in the strange creature. Nothing interesting ever happens. But this is weird, huh?  
  
_[Suggestion to start playing song recommendation here]_  
  
“Hello, Utena.” The voice is soft and demure. Shock goes through Utena in a way she doesn’t understand, as though her heart is pierced with an invisible sword. Her head jerks up so hard it hurts.  
  
There is a woman (suddenly, somehow, when did she get here?!) standing in front of her, only an arm’s reach away. Her long black hair streams back in the wind, and her eyes are the greenest Utena’s ever seen. Utena stares. Her own long pink hair streams forward toward the other’s face, as the storm wind blows her toward this stranger. It’s blowing so hard now it’s hard not to stumble forward.  
  
The strange woman appears to be Indian ethnicity. She has a red bindi on her forehead. Her dress looks cultural perhaps, long and flowing, and is as green as her eyes. It’s spangled with silver, starlike. Her age is indeterminate – she could be Utena’s age, she could be a schoolgirl, she could be a crone. It’s impossible to tell, though Utena can’t tell why that is. All she can do at this point, is stare rudely. The woman stares back, apparently not at all taken aback.  
  
Finally Utena snaps out of it, just as she realises something strange.  
  
“Hey, how do you know my name? Do I er, know you?”  
  
The monkey-mouse chitters angrily in her ear. Utena blushes, she doesn’t know why. It almost seems like it’s telling her off. But … she hasn’t done anything wrong. Has she?  
  
The woman closes her eyes, and for a moment the world goes dark. It’s almost like it disappears, like it never ever existed. Utena is petrified.  
  
Then the woman opens her eyes again, and the world is back. The storm is blowing fiercely. Thunder cracks, right overhead. Lightning flashes, so close it is temporarily blinding. The hairs on the back of Utena’s neck stand upright. She wants to bolt. But her feet feel frozen inside the rain puddle she’s now standing in. Her heart is pounding so hard …  
  
“No,” says the woman softly, flatly. Her face is oddly blank in this moment, and her eyes echo the distance of galaxies.  
  
There is silence except for the storm’s roar. They stand there for long moments more, still staring. The monkey-mouse is quiet now from its’ perch on Utena’s shoulder. There seems to be nothing more to say. But also, nothing to do. Nowhere to go. No point in living.  
  
Utena sits down, suddenly. Her legs just give out from under her. She’s sitting in a puddle but doesn’t care. It’s a bit like someone knocked the legs from under her or like something so shocking happened, that she just can’t believe it. She’s finding it hard to breathe, but also hard to try for one more gasp of air.  
  
The strange woman kneels down, seemingly uncaring of the puddle. Her delicate hands are on Utena’s thighs (which seems inappropriate, yet simultaneously, the most natural place for them to be). She’s leaning forward, her fey eyes laser-like in their focus.  
  
“Utena,” she says softly, “It’s alright.”  
  
Utena stares at her. Swallows. Stares.  
  
“Breathe,” says the woman, softly. “I’m here now.”  
  
And just like that, the next breath comes. Utena breathes. And gazes at this stranger who appeared out of seemingly nowhere, inside this storm.  
  
“Who are you?” she finally asks, just like a child. “Have I met you before?”  
  
The woman smiles at her and it’s kind and distant all at once.  
  
“I’m Himemiya Anthy,” she offers, voice slow and measured. “Do you know me?”  
  
Utena squints at her, wondering if she does, after all. This woman seems SO familiar, for all that she is a stranger. The sense of déjà vu is so strong, that Utena can’t quite tell what’s real or false or waking or dreaming, in this moment. The storm has faded into the background for all that it’s pelting down around them - as though it isn’t even happening.  
  
The intensity of this meeting is more powerful than any storm.  
  
“H… Himemiya,” she tries out suddenly, wanting to taste that name. “Himemiya-san?”  
  
“Just Himemiya,” says the woman, her hands sliding up and down Utena’s thighs, it what appears to be a gesture of comfort. So … why is it distracting? Utena looks at Anthy’s hands, then back into her eyes.  
  
“Himemiya,” she says hesitantly. “Alright then. I’ll call you that.”  
  
“Yes, Utena,” says Anthy demurely. Utena flushes bright red. It’s far too intimate; Anthy is a stranger (who’s been calling her by this informality for intimates, all along!). So brazen. So … strange. So familiar. So wrong. So … right. She opens her mouth to protest, then shuts it again. On her shoulder the monkey-mouse sounds suspiciously like it’s chortling.  
  
“We should get out of the rain!” Utena declares, suddenly needing a distraction. She pushes herself to her feet, unsurprised when Anthy helps her up. “Come to mine, Himemiya. We shouldn’t be out in this storm. You could catch a cold.”  
  
“Are you worried for me?” murmurs Anthy as though this is quaint. Her small smile is knowing, and again, oddly familiar. It makes Utena blush and look away.  
  
“C’mon,” she says determinedly, starting to walk into the headwind. “My home is this way.”  
  
The monkey-mouse is jumping up and down on her shoulder, chirping encouragement. Anthy follows pliantly.  
  
Utena is filled with determination. They must make it home, soon! She will lead the way! This feels familiar, and righteous, and satisfying. It’s a bit like using a muscle that has atrophied, yet suddenly, unexpectedly, works again. It’s a bit like feeling happy; yes! She feels happy.  
  
Meeting this strange pair is wonderful.  
  
Without thinking she reaches back for Anthy’s hand. There’s not even a breath between Anthy taking it, and they’re headed home, together.  
  



	2. II - Anthy

**II - Anthy**   
  
_[Song suggestion: ‘Never Ending Story - Limahl’.  
Convenient spotify link: _ [ _https://open.spotify.com/track/1F43XlPBiwAUUIhrUGzylO?si=9eJogmxCST2l1CcwCatGsw_ ](https://open.spotify.com/track/1F43XlPBiwAUUIhrUGzylO?si=9eJogmxCST2l1CcwCatGsw) _  
Convenient youtube link:_ [ _https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WN0T-Ee3q4_ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WN0T-Ee3q4) _]_

* * *

  
_[Suggestion to start playing song recommendation here]_  
  
Anthy allows herself to be led all the way home by Utena, utterly charmed. Just to feel this so-familiar warm hand in her own (cold) one, again. It’s been so long. It’s been eons. It’s been about ten years.  
  
Only a moment ago they were clasping hands between them in two adjoining beds. Utena’s eyes were wide and childlike as she mused about the nature of existence. Anthy was watching her with wide-eyed curiosity, uncertain as to who Utena really was; she seemed so like Dios, she seemed so like a fool, she seemed so like who Anthy had never been and had been so long ago.  
  
She seemed crazy, and beautiful, and crushable, and protectable. She brought out so many clashing instincts inside what used to be a deadened heart, that Anthy simply didn’t know what to think/feel/do/be any more.   
  
She loved Utena; that much was clear. She hated her too … less clear, but also true. She wanted to know her … did she, really? Or to cage her, betray her, destroy her, possess her, love her, learn from her, change for her, no - change her, save her, protect her, take away her innocence, give her Anthy’s own long-gone innocence … what did she want?  
  
It was unknowable, in that star-crossed instant between them, that sweetly innocent bedroom-shared moment. Anthy was (still) dead in her coffin, and it was astounding that anything was getting through. Yet SO much was getting through, more than ever before, all because this victor was so … weird, so open, such a fool, so lovable.  
  
All because she was Utena.  
  
Now as Utena drags Anthy home, ten years after the Duel Called Revolution, Anthy feels all of that and much more besides.   
  
She is no longer a doll without a heart; the rosebride is lost to the sands of time. She is no longer the schoolgirl-mask she’d pretended to be when Utena had vowed eternal friendship. All this time, she’s been searching for Utena. All this time, and now she’s finally found her …  
  
Utena is pulling her into what looks suspiciously like a haunted mansion. Anthy raises an eyebrow; this is the kind of home a witch would live in. Not an erstwhile prince. But maybe Utena, memory-less as she seems to be, had somehow ‘remembered’ Anthy and them-together and Ohtori? Which had perhaps drawn her to live in a witchlike house like this? Maybe Utena (in her own hapless yet miraculous style) has been searching too …  
  
"Obviously!" cheeps ChuChu. "Pinkie found Chu and Flower."  
  
Anthy nods silently. Somehow this is true. Even though Anthy (and by extension ChuChu) has only just found Utena ...  
  
Utena is shaking herself like a dog, raindrops spattering everywhere. ChuChu copies suit, peeping excitedly. Anthy is far more dignified. She merely 'steps out' of the dampness, and it is gone, as though it's never been; she is bone-dry.  
  
Utena doesn’t appear to notice.  
  
"Can I get you something?" she asks anxiously. "Like er tea, to help you heat up? Maybe a blanket?"  
  
"Tea," decides Anthy, a tad amused at the role reversal. "Yes please."  
  
She watches charmed as Utena heads determinedly for the kitchen, as though making tea is an important mission. Utena approaches so many things, just like that. ChuChu hurries after, eager not to let Utena out of his sight. Anthy approves.  
  
She sits alone in the lounge and studies the shadowy stretching space. Several ornate candelabras, tarnished with rust. An impressive chandelier with one red sock hanging off it – how had that got up there? Assorted vases in classical styles, filled with (discordantly) plastic flowers. A grand piano, the lid closed and gathering dust. On its top is a collection of faded brown-and-white photographs of all sorts of people, strangers all. They appear to be from when photos had first been invented, long before Utena’s time.  
  
The couch where Anthy sits is narrow and black (not wide and white). The rug by the fireplace seems to be a cowskin. The windows are floor-length and look out on an overgrown tropical garden, more jungle than garden. There is a mirror over the fireplace that is cracked into a million pieces - a million shards of self-hatred.  
  
It is SUCH an odd mixture of everyday-and-mystical, Utena and other-people; it screams confusion.  
  
Most disturbing of all are the three paintings. In the centre of the room is a noble prince on a charger – action shot! In one dim corner is a witch-goddess dressed in a stormcloud, stars exploding all around her. In the other corner is a young Japanese girl eating an apple, eyes impossibly big. Anthy’s eyes flicker everywhere, taking it all in. She carefully notes the contents of Utena’s (shattered) psyche, and makes manipulative plans about how to heal it.  
  
Utena is back, tongue sticking out as she carefully balances the tea-tray. ChuChu boings off the tray to burrow into Anthy’s hair.   
  
“Careful,” he warns her in his unique language that no doubt sounds like intelligible cheeping to Utena. “Pinkie breakable.”  
  
Anthy sends a tendril of gratitude his way. She supposes this is entirely true, and that she needs his timely warning. She has missed Utena so ardently, so desperately, and with such energy that it is unbefitting of a rosebride to say the least. There is every risk she’ll push too hard, too fast, and break Utena beyond repair.  
  
Yet all she wants (all ChuChu wants) is for Utena to be whole and strong, herself again, happy, and with them … forever.  
  
Is that too much to ask?  
  
“I didn’t know what you’d like” Utena is saying, fretfully. She’s seated herself at the other end of the (narrow) couch which only leaves about three feet between them, but Anthy doesn’t miss how Utena has chosen distance. She watches as Utena glances up beneath her eyelashes, hiding even now.  
  
“So I made them all,” says Utena. “All the kinds I had.”  
  
Anthy studies the tea tray on the coffee table before them. Her delicate sense of smell tells her that Utena isn’t that good at making tea. Her delicate sensing of Utena tells her that Anthy should drink it anyway. She calmly accepts the teacup ChuChu helpfully presses into her waiting hand.  
  
“Least-yuck,” he tells her. “Swum and checked all!” She smiles at him affectionately. And looks up to find Utena smiling at him too.  
  
“What’s its’ name?” asks Utena, taking a sip of tea, then grimacing and putting her teacup down in a hurry. Anthy hides a smile.  
  
“ChuChu,” she says.  
  
“Chu!” announces ChuChu.  
  
Utena giggles while Anthy watches, charmed. ChuChu prances around the couch proudly. Then he dives into Utena’s abandoned teacup, and starts swimming. Anthy smirks. Little show-off. He is trying to make Utena laugh, to make her happy (and he loves the attention).   
  
It is working. Utena does look happy as she giggles some more. She’d always loved ChuChu.  
  
It is so touching.  
  



	3. III - ChuChu

**III - ChuChu**  
  
ChuChu starts backstroking. He enjoys Pinkie’s giggles, and Flower’s softening as she watches Pinkie.  
  
There is nothing he wants more than them all to be together again, a happy family.  
  
He allows Pinkie to fish him out of the teacup by his tail, which he holds up helpfully in the shape of a hook, so that she can more easily grab him.   
  
"Oh ChuChu," she says, "You're so cute."  
  
He preens, happily.   
  
Out of the corner of his third-eye he senses Flower smiling than tut-tutting through the ether. The message (always lost a bit in translation) is something like,   
  
"Don't get too big for your britches ..."  
  
"Flower wants Pinkie all for Flower!" he sends back. He can sense in Flower’s etheric-scowl, that he is (mostly) right. He radiates smugness.  
  
This is the perfect moment to swing himself into the hollow of Pinkie’s neck, and cuddle there, purring.


	4. IV - Utena

**IV - Utena** _  
  
[Song suggestion: 'Desert Rose' - Sting featuring Cheb Mami.  
Convenient spotify link: _ [ _https://open.spotify.com/track/3zYufmyv6HOuiHn1eMR6Ja?si=xtOx_UFlT3eEI3VOePaPaA_ ](https://open.spotify.com/track/3zYufmyv6HOuiHn1eMR6Ja?si=xtOx_UFlT3eEI3VOePaPaA) _  
Convenient youtube link:_ [ _https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3lWwBslWqg_ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3lWwBslWqg) _]  
  
_

* * *

It is strangely familiar having tea with Anthy and ChuChu. Utena enjoys herself thoroughly, feels a bit scared, and wants more, all at the same time. She makes sure to keep distance between herself and Anthy, at least as much distance as her narrow couch allows.  
  
At the same time she can’t stop thinking of how it had felt to have Anthy's delicate hands sliding along her thighs.  
  
"Er Himemiya?" she asks at one point, as they watch the storm savagely attack the jungle-garden outside the window. "It's getting dark. Maybe we should ... go to bed?"  
  
There is a sudden charged silence. Utena blushes to her roots without knowing why. ChuChu makes that weird chortling noise that seems all the world like he is laughing. Utena looks sidelong at Anthy who is looking out the window (is that deliberate?).  
  
"Let's go to bed," says Anthy demurely. But there is a hint of 'something else' to how she says it, something indefinable. It makes Utena's pulse rush, and the short hairs on the back of her neck rise to attention. She looks up at the picture of the prince charging headlong, heedless, into the unknown.  
  
Yeah, she feels like that.  
  
"I only have one bed," she admits, hopping up and rubbing one hand along her neck, feeling awkward. "But er, you're welcome ... to share it. Or you could ... sleep on the couch."  
  
A sudden slice of pain. So intense that Utena's eyes water. There is a sense of wetness on her thighs, as though blood is trickling down. She blinks wildly, and stumbles for a moment.  
  
Suddenly Anthy is there at her side, taking an arm and propping her up. Supporting her. ChuChu is there too, soft paw on her cheek.   
  
"No," says Anthy quite firmly. "I won't sleep on the couch."  
  
Utena's eyes close against the pain-relief.   
  
"Good," she sighs. Her eyes pop back open. "I could, if you like ..."  
  
"No!" Anthy is assertive. "That won't be necessary."  
  
And Anthy is already guiding her away from the couch and the lounge, seeming to know just where to go. They are climbing the wide marble stairway of this haunted mansion, that Utena doesn’t know for the life of her why she lives in (but she'd been so irresistibly drawn to it, she just couldn't consider living anywhere else).  
  
Anthy has let go of her arm, though retains possession of her hand. They walk up the stairs hand-in-hand, and Utena feels herself calming down. Then sweat breaks out anew, and she is feeling nervous again for all sorts of reasons, none of them articulate-able.   
  
_[Suggestion to start playing song recommendation here]_  
  
They enter the main bedroom. It is smaller than the lounge, but not by much. The four-poster bed is huge, and looks like it belonged to kings and queens of old. The headpiece is antique wooden carving, depicting shadowy fairytale scenes. A shimmery veil hangs down all around, white yet see-through, and open on one side. The carpet is thick and soft and decadent. Candles are lit (but who lit them?). Somewhere in the distance two someones sing a mournful song of love-and-longing, an evocative mix of latin and arabic cultures.   
  
Utena blinks. She is so nervous. This feels like a wedding night. This feels like ... losing her virginity. But she's never been married. And she’d lost her virginity a long time ago (hadn’t she?). Why is she so nervous?  
  
She is just here with another ordinary girl, this stranger who isn’t a stranger, Himemiya Anthy. Nothing is going to happen. Nothing can happen; they are both girls, aren’t they?  
  
ChuChu peeps. Utena's eyes follow him dazedly as he rushes to the bed and jumps onto the pillow. It somewhat breaks the spell. The storm seems to have entered a lapse. Rain only falls softly now, though there is the rumble of distant thunder. It is night. Stars are blinking through the stormclouds.  
  
The haunting song from faraway continues, but almost out of the range of hearing.  
  
Utena feels like she is moving in a dream. Anthy is tugging her toward the bed, gently, but implacably. When Utena looks at the set of the other woman's shoulders they seem strong, iron-cast. Utena doesn’t think she could pull away if she tried.  
  
And she doesn’t want to try.


	5. V - Anthy

**V - Anthy** _  
  
[Song suggestion: Same as last chapter’s, continue playing.]  
  
_

Something has come over Anthy, and she doesn’t know or care what it is. The sight of the bed, the soft gasp from Utena standing beside her, the song-from-yesterday on the horizon, and suddenly Anthy is filled with ... _  
  
_... SUCH yearning. _  
  
_It gives her the onus to pull Utena (unresisting, bedazzled) to the bed, and push her down gently to sit, with one firm hand against Utena's breastbone (so briefly). _  
  
_It gives her the whimsy to blink the room into pitch-blackness for one long moment, and when the room blinks back to life, they are both naked. _  
  
_Utena sits there staring, mouth dropped, cheeks flushed. Her chest is flushed too above her breasts, nipples pebbled and protruding. Utena’s scent is strong in the air. _  
  
_ChuChu stops jumping on the pillow and chitters softly in warning. He doesn’t think this is the wisest. _  
  
_"Shut up," Anthy tells him, without words. "This is needed." _  
  
_"Self-indulgent!" he accuses her, not using that term exactly, but getting his meaning across nonetheless. "Wait for Pinkie ..." _  
  
_But Anthy can’t wait any longer. _  
  
_She takes a graceful step towards Utena and stands before her in all her naked glory, standing almost between Utena's parted thighs, but not quite. Less than an arm's reach away. Her midnight hair is wild and there is more of it than there is body. If one looks closely there are stars just beneath the surface of her skin. _  
  
_She can’t stop them from showing, not any more, not just now. All she wants is for Utena to see her. _  
  
_For Utena to SEE her. _  
  
_For Utena to remember her, to want her, to be there WITH her. _  
  
_By any means necessary. _  
  
_Utena stares at her, face slack, lips parted. Something wars in her eyes, while Anthy watches carefully, hopefully, hopelessly. It looks like lust. It looks like indecision. It looks like uncertainty, confusion, fear, desire, wonder. _  
  
_Does it look like hatred? Just for one sword-streaked moment? _  
  
_Finally Utena sighs, a long drawn-out whispery sound of surrender. _  
  
_"Himemiya," she says, so softly. "You're beautiful." _  
  
_Anthy accepts this as her due. It doesn't touch her heart. After you've heard a million people say it, with a million shades of meaning, what can it possibly mean, any more? Still, this is Utena. Surely it should mean … something …  
  
“Himemiya,” Utena goes on, dreamily if a tad fearfully, almost like someone who’s drugged, “who are you, really?”  
  
Anthy remembers being in Utena’s position, long ago in their shared bedroom. Saying those same wondering words to Utena. Half in a rosebride haze, and half-out. Affected by the swords, yet finding it in herself (so unexpectedly) to care …  
  
“Utena!” she says sharply, and the spell is broken. The candles flicker, and somehow they are providing more light now, that is warm instead of romantically-mysterious. Utena blinks dazedly, knuckling at her eyes.  
  
“See!” chirps ChuChu. “Chu right! Flower not like.”  
  
Anthy ignores him. Her heart is twisting painfully. She’d wanted it to be different to this; oh why isn’t it different to this?  
  
Still naked, she climbs into bed, and nestles under the furry blankets, waiting for Utena to join her. Still naked, seemingly half dazed, Utena follows suit.  
  
They lie next to each other, not touching. The storm is starting up again outside. The candles flicker again, and dim. No stars can be seen through the window, only roiling storm clouds.  
  



	6. VI - Utena

**VI - Utena  
**  
Utena can’t sleep. She is painfully aware of Himemiya Anthy only inches away, her body warmth leaping across this slight distance between them, like the heat of a flame. ChuChu is curled up in the crook of Anthy’s neck, and to Utena’s dazed eyes, appears to be attempting comfort.  
  
Is Anthy … upset? Has Utena done … something wrong?  
  
She knuckles at her eyes again, uncertain, and unseeing. This is a very strange night. A very strange series of circumstances. Nothing like this has ever happened before (has it?). Things like this don’t happen to Utena (do they?).   
  
How has it come to be that she is sharing a bed with a mysterious witch?  
  
Her eyes pop open and she stares at the darkness outside their floor-length window, uncomprehendingly. The storm is in full force now. Yet they are safe inside, snug under the heavy covers.  
  
 _Witch?_ Where had that thought come from? Witch?!  
  
But what else could Anthy be? What with the sudden darkness, and their clothes disappearing, and the masses of hair (so much, so luxurious), and the eyes so old and knowing …  
  
… eyes that Utena could lose herself in, and drown breathless, forever …  
  
A sudden surge of determination thrums through her. She has to know! She turns on her side and stares Anthy down, who seems determined not to look at her.  
  
“Who are you?” she asks, no demands. “Don’t hide from me!”  
  
There is a long pause. The crack of thunder. Lightning illuminates them and in that instant, Utena sees. She sees EVERYthing.   
  
And then the lightning is gone, and it is all gone again, into the nowhere it sprang out of. But somehow, she remembers … something …  
  
“You’re a witch,” she mutters, wonderingly. No accusation, just a hint of questioning.  
  
Anthy’s eyes snap to hers, suddenly alert. Slowly Anthy turns on her side to face Utena so they lay face to face.  
  
So familiar, thinks Utena. She’s so very familiar …  
  
“Yes,” says Anthy, and she sounds cautious now. “Perhaps that’s true.”  
  
“It’s definitely true,” says Utena, and she doesn’t know where the certainty (or the sudden rudeness) comes from. “You are, you are, you are.”  
  
Anthy blinks again. Her face is disturbingly blank now. Almost like the mask of a face, if such a thing is possible. This seems familiar too, heartbreakingly so.  
  
“Don’t hide from me,” Utena whispers again. “I can tell when you’re hiding.”  
  
Anthy blinks again, and suddenly her face regains mobility. A single tear leaks from one eye. ChuChu strokes Anthy’s chin with soft paws. Utena and Anthy stare at each other.  
  
“I don’t want to hide,” says Anthy, finally. “It’s a bad habit.” She gazes keenly at Utena. “Why are you hiding?”  
  
“I’m not!” protests Utena, but she knows as soon as she says it that it isn’t really true. So she backtracks as best she can. “I mean … I’m not meaning to hide. I … don’t know that I’m hiding. WHAT I’m hiding.”  
  
Anthy looks a little sad, but her beautiful face remains open. Utena studies it hungrily. Why hadn’t Anthy liked it when Utena called her beautiful? That seems important somehow …  
  
“Is it bad to say you’re beautiful?” she tries softly. “When I mean it so much?”  
  
Anthy blinks at her, startled. Then a tear leaks down from the other eye.   
  
“Oh Utena,” she says. “Oh Utena.” And she starts to cry.  
  
Moving without thought, Utena wraps Anthy up in her arms, and holds her close. It feels … so good. It feels right to hold Anthy like this, to comfort her. It feels comforting for Utena too. And to feel close with Anthy, feels so right. Just like a dream coming true, just like the culmination of everything Utena has ever wanted, without even knowing she wanted it …  
  
  



	7. VII - ChuChu

**VII - ChuChu  
  
** ChuChu crawls into the tiny niche between Flower and Pinkie’s sweetly clinging bodies. They are naked and warm, and their heart-warmth is even warmer. He lies toastily between them, purring beneath the frequency of sound hearable by human ears.   
  
He doesn’t want to disturb them now, not when they are so close to finding their way back to each other.  
  
Happily, he goes to sleep.


	8. VIII - Anthy

**VIII - Anthy  
**   
_[Song suggestion: ‘Return to Innocence - Enigma’.  
Convenient spotify link: _ [ _https://open.spotify.com/album/1t4hf9yHMQBoTz2CxTBJKj?highlight=spotify:track:2UKkLqST2xWpK8n1b0Xr5Z_ ](https://open.spotify.com/album/1t4hf9yHMQBoTz2CxTBJKj?highlight=spotify:track:2UKkLqST2xWpK8n1b0Xr5Z) _  
Convenient youtube link:_ [ _https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk_sAHh9s08_ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk_sAHh9s08) _]  
  
_

* * *

_  
[Suggestion to start playing song recommendation here]  
  
_ Anthy cries in Utena’s arms and feels her heart breaking open and washing clean. This is everywhere she has ever wanted to be, and nowhere that she has been before.  
  
“Himemiya,” whispers Utena, after some time, when Anthy’s tears have long since stopped. “I know you, don’t I?”  
  
“Yes,” whispers back Anthy, because it is only the truth, after all.  
  
“But I forgot,” says Utena. “I don’t know why or how or what … but I can’t quite remember. Except … I remember the hole where you used to be, inside my memories. And I know somehow … that only you, fit there.”  
  
A warm rush fills Anthy, holds her in a stupor inside Utena’s embrace. Is this … joy? Is this what joy feels like?  
  
“Maybe I’ll never remember again,” says Utena, but she doesn’t sound that upset about it.  
  
“I’ve been so many people,” murmurs Anthy, not knowing what possesses her to share this, but sharing nonetheless. “None of them are worth remembering.” A weighty pause. “The only one I want to remember, is you.”  
  
She feels Utena’s smile against her cheek. Then suddenly Utena’s soft lips are there, kissing that same spot. They gasp together.  
  
Then Anthy moves her head just so, placing her lips where they would be most easily found by Utena’s questing ones. Their first kiss is soft and sweet and long and breathless. Just to touch like this, finally, to be this close …  
  
… is everything.  
  
The world disappears, the storm fades out, the eons of hell are gone in this moment of heaven. All that exists for Himemiya Anthy is something indefinable, eternally mysterious, here and now, between her and Tenjou Utena.  
  
What does it matter if Utena remembers her?  
  
What does anything matter at all?  
  
When they are here, together,   
here, at last,   
here, in the real world ,  
here, where they’ve somehow found each other (again).  
  
Nothing else matters. There is nothing else but here.  
  
 **~FIN~**  
  
  



	9. Author's Note

**AUTHOR’S NOTE:  
**  
Ah, I loved writing this, and it flowed out of one café-writing session. I was inspired after reading the so-beautiful U/A fanfiction ‘Untangled’ by emilyenrose (now an orphaned account): <https://archiveofourown.org/works/274846> I highly recommend it to all U/A fans and/or fans of post-canon fix-its, slow building romances, and/or surrealistic fairytale elements. Just lovely writing, and a mystical yet heart-warming story. 😊 <3  
  
The feel/flavour of it inspired me to want to write something in a similar (yet different) vein, and recapture the mysteriousness/romanticism that is ever a key part (for me) of the Utena/Anthy combo. Plus to take up the popular post-anime fix-it theme, that I enjoy writing and reading.  
  
It also inspired me to try a different take on ChuCu than I have before (and even try out writing story segments in his unique voice, which I personally haven’t seen done elsewhere as yet).  
  
If you’re curious about the names he calls Utena and Anthy by, here’s where they came from. 😉 ‘Pinkie’ came to me out of the ether, and seemed like an appropriate nickname, from the ChuChu POV. It’s for Utena’s long pink hair of course (probably fascinating to a ChuChu creature). 'Flowery' is what Anthy means (in Greek), and since Anthy is hardly Anthy's original name, and ChuChu must have been with her throughout the ages, it seems to me like he'd call her something of her essence, rather than her 'latest assumed name'.  
  
I loved switching between Utena’s / Anthy’s / ChuChu’s point-of-views in spiralling building scenes. So fun! And noticed that this perhaps gets more of the story across then can be captured by just one point-of-view.  
  
I also noticed after writing this that I’d used second person, unwittingly for much of it (just as I did in ‘Duel Called Enmity’). I didn’t mean to … I guess that tense just captures ‘something brooding/blooming on the horizon’ somehow. Scenes that are flashbacks and/or referring to the past switch to third person instead.  
  
I haven’t given song recommendations in a fanfiction before, though I’ve seen it done by others (and often enjoyed it). I did this time just because some of them played in the café where I was writing this, and were just so apt (lucky me! Great for inspiration). Then I added some other song recs in edits, that came to mind for possible ambience.  
  
Perhaps I’ll write a sequel in which Utena does recover the fullness of her memories, perhaps not. I can feel something a’brewing, but never know what or whether writing will (actually) come through!  
  
In either case, this story feels complete, just here. Thanks for sharing this experience with me. And with Utena and Anthy and ChuChu of course, who live on inside the hearts of all us fans. 😊  
  
 _~sharnii~_  
  



End file.
